2012/10/04

"A Dutch "abortion boat" is en route to Morocco in its first trip to a Muslim country.

The procedure is illegal in Morocco, unless the mother's life is at risk.The organisation, Women on Waves (WoW), provides abortions and contraception information outside territorial waters in countries where abortion is illegal.Over the past 11 years, a Women on Waves ship has visited Ireland, Poland, Portugal and Spain, sparking protests from anti-abortion groups.

In cases of illegal abortions performed domestically, women expose themselves to grave health risks by resorting to dangerous methods, the organisation says.The group says that, according to figures published by the Moroccan government, between 600 and 800 abortions take place every day in the north African kingdom."The problem is that only about 200 cases are done properly, by women who have money," said Ms Gomperts, a doctor.The Dutch organisation says it was "invited" to Morocco by local youth group the Alternative Movement for Individual Liberties (Mali), to raise support for the legalisation of abortion in the country.

WoW will not carry out any abortion operation during its expected trip to Morocco, but will "promote the idea of a safe medication abortion", according to the Mali website."

How is it even possible that women in Morocco have these problems? Aren't they married? What happens in Morocco that I don't know? Are women being raped? Are they having too many kids? Why must they do any kind of abortions?

I know that you can do abortion in islam, but not anyhow and anyway, like they do in Western countries like my own Homeland Sweden.

In Islam there are several reasons to do an abortion.

Praise be to Allaah. The Council of Senior Scholars issued the following statement:

1 – It is not permissible to abort a pregnancy at any stage unless there is a legitimate reason, and within very precise limits.

2 – If the pregnancy is in the first stage, which is a period of forty days, and aborting it serves a legitimate purpose or will ward off harm, then it is permissible to abort it. But aborting it at this stage for fear of the difficulty of raising children or of being unable to bear the costs of maintaining and educating them, or for fear for their future or because the couple feel that they have enough children – this is not permissible.

3 – It is not permissible to abort a pregnancy when it is an ‘alaqah (clot) or mudghah (chewed lump of flesh) (which are the second and third periods of forty days each) until a trustworthy medical committee has decided that continuing the pregnancy poses a threat to the mother’s wellbeing, in that there is the fear that she will die if the pregnancy continues. It is permissible to abort it once all means of warding off that danger have been exhausted.

4 – After the third stage, and after four months have passed, it is not permissible to abort the pregnancy unless a group of trustworthy medical specialists decide that keeping the foetus in his mother’s womb will cause her death, and that should only be done after all means of keeping the foetus alive have been exhausted. A concession is made allowing abortion in this case so as to ward off the greater of two evils and to serve the greater of two interests.

With regard to the rulings following an abortion, they vary according to the time of the abortion, and fall into four categories, as follows:

1 – If the pregnancy is aborted within the first two stages (the nutfah (drop) stage which results from the mixing of the “two waters” which is the first forty days after the embryo attaches itself in the womb, and the ‘alaqah (clot) stage where it turns into solid blood during the second forty days), which add up to a total of eighty days, then in this case if it is aborted as a nutfah or ‘alaqah, there are no rulings to be followed, and there is no scholarly dispute on this point. The woman should continue to fast and pray as if she had not had an abortion, but she has to do wudoo’ for each prayer if she has any bleeding, as in the case of a woman suffering from istihaadah (non-menstrual vaginal bleeding).

2 – If the pregnancy is aborted in the third stage, the mudghah (chewed piece of flesh) stage, when the embryo looks like a piece of meat with the limbs and features beginning to appear, which lasts for forty days from the eighty-first to the one hundred and twentieth day, then there are two scenarios:

(i) This embryo does not have any human features and the midwives or other attendants did not testify that this was the beginning of a human being. In this case the ruling on abortion of this mudghah is the same as the ruling on abortion in the first two stages, and there are no rulings to be followed.

(ii) The embryo has complete human features or some human features such as a hand or foot, etc, or there are features but they are indistinct, or the midwives or other attendants testified that this was the beginning of a human being. In this case the rulings on nifaas are to be followed, and this signals the end of ‘iddah (waiting period following divorce or death of the husband, if applicable).

3 – If the pregnancy is aborted in the fourth stage, i.e., after the soul has been breathed into the foetus, which is after the beginning of the fifth month or after one hundred and twenty days of pregnancy have passed. Here there are two scenarios:

(i) If the foetus did not cry after birth, then the rulings mentioned with regard to the second stage of the mudghah are to be followed, but in addition the foetus should be washed, shrouded and the funeral prayer offered for him; he should be given a name and the ‘aqeeqah offered for him.

(ii) If the foetus cried after birth, then the rulings concerning a full-term baby apply, as mentioned above; in addition the child may take possession of wealth bequeathed or inherited; he may inherit or be inherited from, etc. i.e. the child lives!